“I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what I just saw. I mean…I do, but Aiden-”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. His hand was on her legs, where they were draped across his lap, and though he touched her, she could feel him withdrawing from her as he spoke. “Feeding memories to someone isn’t an exact science. I didn’t mean for you to see Troy’s attack. It’s clearly front and center in my mind right now after what happened to him tonight.”
“Memories,” she repeated. “You fed me your memories?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“What…are you?”
“A Warden,” he said without emotion, without hesitation, but she could feel the waves of tension rolling off of him. “The law of our kind.”
“Your kind,” she said, because she couldn’t bring herself to voice the word ‘vampire’.
“Yes,” he said. “My kind. Vampire, Kelly.” There it was. He’d said the impossible, said what her mind rejected despite what she’d seen – no – what she’d felt, what she’d relived with Aiden.
He lifted her legs and tried to scoot away from her and get up.
“No,” she said, grabbing his bare arm. He was still gloriously shirtless, his jeans unbuttoned, and all the confusion and fear over this night didn’t change how masculine and perfect she found him. That had to mean something, had to be a part of her that still saw him, as Aiden, her lover, her protector.
“Kelly-”
“Don’t tell me to let you go.” She dropped her legs to the floor, so she could follow him if necessary. “I just need to understand all of this, Aiden. How can you be what you say you are? How is that possible?” He turned to her more fully, his eyes, too black and unnatural, she realized now, found hers. “The laws of my race dictate that no human be left with a memory of our existence. I’ll tell you what you want to know, because it’s the best way to protect you. But when this is over, I will erase your memories, Kelly.
To do otherwise, is punishable by death - yours and mine.” She drew a sharp breath, but she wasn’t sure she could even process the implications of what he was saying. Not until she understood more of what was happening, of what he was.
“Okay,” she said. “So you’ll erase my memories, just like you gave me yours. Agreed. So now you’ll answer my questions?”
He hesitated and then gave a short nod.
“You eat real food. And today you were with me during the daytime, when there was sunlight.”
“I’m a vampire,” he said flatly. “Not a myth or a movie. I don’t burst into flames in sunlight and blood is a necessity on a limited basis. It becomes a drug, a high, that is not so unlike human drugs. It turns the abusers into the monsters I hunt down and kill.”
“And exactly how does one become a vampire?” she asked, because thinking of the science, the questions, seeking answers, was all that was keeping her sane right now.
He studied her a long moment, then, “I’d spare you the details but considering your career choice, I’m going to assume you can handle it. A human must be drained dry of their own blood and then fed that of a vampire. Other than that – where did we come from? I don’t know. No one knows our true origins.” She inhaled and let it out, still seeking answers, and mentally seeking the cold dark place in her mind that allowed her to separate herself from the horrors of her work. “And the animal – the wolf – that attacked Troy? Where does it, or they, come from?”
“A werewolf can be born, as most are, a race of their own, not so unlike humans. Or a wolf can be created by a virus that infects a human. The virus creates a monster, a creature that lives to kill. That is what Andres is. A wolf that was once human.”
Her chest went icy. “So you think this Andres killed those women?”
“There is no tidy death when a wolf attacks you, so no. I don’t think he killed them, but Troy has informants that say Andres is the creator of the drug that’s indirectly responsible for the deaths. We believe it’s a combination of his blood and that of a vampire. And Andres, like the wolf that attacked Troy, is a new breed of wolf, not fully understood. We don’t know exactly what he is and we have no blood samples available. Troy’s informant tells us that the result of the two blood types is an extreme aphrodisiac, and by extreme, I mean without pleasure there is pain. Horrible, intolerable pain. The vamps dose the human, and then Gangbang her.”
She could feel the blood drain from her face. “And they drain her dry and kill her during sex?”
“I’m not going to tell you that sex and blood are not one and the same for a vampire. It’s erotic and the vampires would drink from the female. And no, I didn’t drink from you, and not because I didn’t want to.
That’s my point. Vampires have willpower unless we have bloodlust. A vampire with bloodlust would not tidy up after themselves and the victims were not visibly injured. Troy’s source tells him some of the women stroke out from the drug and the vamps go ahead and drain them.”
“I didn’t see any signs of stroke,” she said, still reeling from his reference to not drinking from her, to the flashes of them naked and making love, to his mouth on her neck. To moments when his teeth had graved the delicate skin. She shook off the memories, tried to focus on what was most important. The dead women. The possibility of more dead women. “But I’ll look again. I’ll look more specifically.”
“It could simply be what you suggested,” he said. “A group of vampires misjudged how much blood they took from one human and overindulged. Either way, the drug is dangerous and the source, Andres, has to be destroyed.”
“Right,” she said, her throat closing, the calm place in her mind exploding with the horror of vampires draining innocent women dry.
Aiden scrubbed his jaw and she sensed that he was about to put distance between them, sensed that he thought she believed him to be a monster. She knew this because his memories, and his feelings, were hers now. She owned a part of them. Suddenly, she was aware of what it had cost him to show her what he had – to expose himself, to let her see his pain, feel his pain. Instinct was all she had, and that instinct had told her from the moment she’d met him, that he was someone she could trust…maybe even someone she could love.
She didn’t give herself time to think. Kelly grabbed him and pushed him back against the couch, climbing on top of him, her hand settling on his chest. “I know you aren’t one of those monsters, Aiden. I can’t pretend I’m not freaked out. Make that really freaked out. I just don’t know how else to put it. And yes, I’m scared, but not of you.” She reached for his face and he shackled her wrist.
“I’m dangerous, Kelly,” he said. “The one time I let myself forget that, I made someone I cared about a target for my enemies.”
Translation. That person had died. God, how much had this man endured? “A woman?”
“Yes.”
“Human?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know what you were?” “Not until she was already dying.” Her chest tightened on those words. “Why didn’t you convert her to vampire?”
“It’s against our laws to convert a human without council approval,” he said. “But I would have, if I could have. She was...” He shook his head and seemed to rethink his words, then started again. “I hesitated when I saw the awareness in her eyes, the knowledge of what I was. And, the hatred. She hated me.”
“No,” Kelly said, rejecting that answer. “She couldn’t have hated you simply because you suddenly grew fangs, Aiden. You have to be mistaken.”
“It wasn’t sudden to anyone but her,” he said. “I lied to her by hiding it from her. And I’m not mistaken.
A vampire attacked her and, well, I’m not sure what she thought in the end. Maybe she thought it was me when she saw my fangs. I don’t really know anything except that I hesitated before I converted her and in that short moment, I was attacked. By the time I killed the other vampire, it was too late. She was dead.”
“Oh God. Aiden-”
“I won’t le
t you become a target.”
“I’m already a target.”
“I plan to fix that. When I leave here, you’ll be safe.”
“And without my memories. I get that part loud and clear.” She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “When you bite me, will it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt.” His eyes darkened, turning into inky velvet, laden with desire. “But I have no intention of biting you, Kelly.”
“I plan to fix that,” she assured him, repeating his own words.
“You have no idea what you’re asking.”
“I’m not asking.” She untied her robe and let if fall off of her shoulders, then full away from her body.
She was naked, offering herself to him.
He pulled her to him, his hand on the back of her head, a snarl on his lips. “You have no idea what you are playing with, Kelly.” He pulled back, letting her see his fangs. “Look at me. This is what I am.” She sucked in a breath at the sight of his elongated cuspids, at the darkening of his already too black eyes.
He turned away from her instantly, but not before she saw the torment flash across his handsome face.
He’d thought that Darla had looked at him with hatred, and she didn’t want him to see that in her, to imagine that in her.
Her heart squeezed at the pain he’d felt in his life, at the pain he still felt. She pressed her hands to his face, urging him to look at her. “You’re a vampire,” she said, wanting him to know she fully understood.
Her fingers traced his lip, his fangs. “I see you, Aiden, and I’m not afraid. I see you and there is no monster here. There is just the man who woke something up inside me that no other has before.” She leaned into him and pressed her lips to his, molding her nipples against the dark hair on his chest. “Now it’s your turn. See me, Aiden, not someone from your past. Be with me.” Another second passed, then another, and she worried he wasn’t going to respond. Then, suddenly he was kissing her, his mouth devouring hers. Passion simmered before exploding into a wild, raging river of desire. Minutes faded into the pleasure of his mouth, his touch, until finally, finally, they were both naked, and he was buried inside her. She whimpered with the scrape of his fangs near her ear, erotic chills racing down her spine and he hadn’t even bitten her yet. Her body clenched around his cock, an automatic reaction, to what was more erotic than she imagined possible.
“No pain,” he whispered, pulling back to look at her, “Just intense pleasure.”
“Do it,” she pleaded, her body aching with some sort of blind anticipation. “Do it now.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
A moment later, his fangs sank into her neck and pleasure slammed into her like nothing she’d ever experienced before. He was like nothing, or anyone, she had ever experienced before. She didn’t want it to end, but it would. It would end and he would leave, taking her memories with him.
If she let him.
Chapter Fourteen
It was Saturday night and he and Kelly sat at her kitchen table reviewing internet news stories.
“Nothing,” Kelly said, shoving aside her computer. “We’ve been at this for hours, Aiden. Thankfully, the drug seems to be off the streets or surely we’d have another victim, considering Troy was right. When we discovered there was a mild indicator of stroke, I was sure we’d have more victims. But we haven’t, and I don’t see any stories that resembled wolf or vampire attacks.” She smiled. “Oh my.” He tried to smile at the joke, knowing she was trying to ease the strain he was feeling, but he couldn’t manage. Not even for Kelly. Aiden scrubbed his jaw and leaned back in his chair. No one had seen or heard from Troy for weeks and it was eating Aiden alive. Not even Evan or Marcus, and they were looking. He’d had no choice but to contact them.
“At least there hasn’t been another murder,” Kelly said. “Not here and nothing similar anywhere else. Not even a peep from Detective Wright beyond a few phone calls on the case.”
“I know. I know.” He shook his head, “Where the hell is he, Kelly?” He meant Troy, and he knew she knew that. They’d spent every waking minute together, and he’d held nothing back. Why would he? He was just going to have to erase her memories, erase himself from her life.
She pushed to her feet and walked to him, sliding into his lap, where he willingly invited her. “I love you, Kelly,” he said, before he could stop himself. “I fucking love you and the idea of losing you, like I have Troy, is eating me alive.”
She pressed her lips to his, then smiled against his mouth. “I fucking love you too and you aren’t going to lose me.”
“Kelly,” he said, leaning back to look at her. “You know-”
“I know that you think you can erase yourself from my mind, and us from my memories, but we’re more than that Aiden. You can’t erase us from my heart.” Her cell phone started to ring and she reached for it and then stilled, her gaze lifting to his. “It’s Detective Wright.”
“It’s Saturday night,” he said, a chill racing down his spine. This was trouble. He felt it in his bones.
“I’m on call,” she said. “I have to answer.”
He nodded and she took the call. He could hear the conversation. “Another murder,” Wright said. “We want you on scene to examine the body this time.”
“Where?” she asked, her gaze touching Aiden’s.
“Eclipse,” the detective said. “And hurry. It’s a madhouse here. Come to the backdoor.” He hung up.
Kelly was stiff, still holding the phone to her ear. Aiden took the phone from her. “It’s a trap, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s a trap.” He kissed her. “And I’m going to kill that bastard for even trying to set it.” He stood her up. “Let me make some quick plans.” He grabbed his phone and dialed Evan and Marcus, and was forced to leave a message for both of them. He dialed Troy and left yet another message. Damn, damn, damn. This was going down and he was all that was going to be standing between Kelly and hell.
***
Kelly parked behind the bar and her cell phone rang. She knew it was Aiden. “Get the hell out of there now,” he said.
“No,” she said. “We need to end this.”
“What?” he demanded. “No Kelly. We agreed that you’d leave if this wasn’t obviously a police operation.
There’s no police Kelly. No yellow tape and no fucking police.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t walk away if this is your chance to catch Andres.”
“Kelly-” She hung up and opened the door, shoving her phone in her purse. She stepped outside. The night was dark, humid, starless. Lightening flickered in the sky, a storm passing, or coming, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She walked quickly towards the building, but not as quickly as her heart raced.
She wore jeans and flats that made her feel more ready to run. She was going to need to run. The thought chilled her to the bone.
The instant that she arrived at the back door, it opened, and Detective Wright appeared, music blasting behind him. The club wasn’t shut down, but then she’d known that when she drove up. He motioned her inside.
She didn’t move. “Where is everyone?”
“Basement level. They’re worried about public panic. They’re keeping this as low key as one can after the seventh murder in a short period of time.”
“Basement?” she asked. “Who has a basement in Texas?”
“Apparently this place. A basement and a dead body.”
She inhaled and let it out. How did one run away in a basement? They didn’t, she thought. They didn’t.
She was walking into a trap alright.
She walked forward, passing him, her arm brushing his. A wave of nausea overcame her. The man oozed evil, be it real or imagined, but like the storm, it didn’t matter. It simply was what it was.
A stairwell up and a stairwell down were directly in front of her. “Going down,” he told her, stepping behind her, his hands touching her waist. “Hustle. We
don’t want to draw unwanted attention.” She started down the stairs, and the idea of that man at her back, was almost too much. She was halfway down when a tall man stopped at the bottom, his eyes glinting orange. A memory of Troy’s eyes during his attack drew her up short. She turned to run and smashed into Wright. He smiled. Someone grabbed her from behind. She fought and fought, but it wasn’t enough to save her from the warm, coppery taste of the liquid one of the two men poured down her throat.
Chapter Fifteen
Aiden blasted through the backdoor of the bar, not giving a shit about anything but getting to Kelly. He’d sworn to protect her. He would not fail her. He couldn’t fail her.
A vampire greeted Aiden just inside the entry with a snarl. Aiden returned the greeting with the cooper blade in his hand. The vamp dropped like a rock, not expecting such an open attack. Another came at him, and this time a scuffle followed, that was more like a game of peewee football. He was done with it and down the stairs, grabbing Wright by the shirt, in seconds. He tossed him aside and watched someone dragging her down the remainder of the stair.
“Aiden!” she screamed.
He didn’t stop charging forward. He was in front of her, sending her a mental command to sleep, to spare her witness to what was to follow. He swung over her, and slammed his blade into her attacker, clear to the bone. A howl of pain followed and he maneuvered Kelly behind him, kicking what turned out to be Andres, down the remainder of the stairs. He took off and started running, knowing from experience that Andres took a blade like an inconvenience he would quickly recover from.
With Kelly in his arms, he found the top of the stairs and kicked the door open, only to find Troy once again waiting for him, the SUV pulled up, the back door open. Troy, however, was not inside the vehicle.
He had Detective Wright sprawled across the hood, a blade slashing through the air. Wright dropped to the ground, his head rolling, no ash to follow, no bloodlust present. Just a whole lot of asshole.